Memories in the Kitchen
by irisadler
Summary: A Booth and Brennan one shot. Booth reminisces while pregnant Bones is cooking dinner in the kitchen.


He smiled at her, dropping a kiss on her swollen belly. "Hey baby Bones, how ya doing in there? Warm and comfortable?" He put his hand where he had just kissed and straightened up to kiss Brennan on the lips.

"Of course she is warm and comfortable. I have an excellent uterine environment. I hope you are not trying to imply that my body is incapable of providing the proper care for our unborn child."

Booth chuckled and kissed her again. "Of course not, Bones. I'm just merely making small talk."

Brennan laughed. "That is funny because she is small and cannot talk back." She laughed again and walked towards the kitchen sink, chuckling to herself.

Booth smiled and wondered how he had gotten so lucky. He looked at Brennan as she washed her hands and then as she walked around the kitchen, busy with gathering ingredients for dinner. She was humming to herself. He looked at her beautiful face, distracted by her task. He remembered how that beautiful face was contorted in pain the first—well third, technically—time he had kissed her.

They were outside the FBI building just after telling Sweets about their first case. Reminiscing about that first case had make him think about how deeply he felt for Bones. And he decided to take Sweet's advice about how he had to be the one to make the move. He had kissed her, full speed ahead, right then and there. And she kissed him back. He knew that she felt the same way, but then she pushed him away and her eyes were full of tears. She couldn't handle her feelings and she couldn't let him in. She couldn't let him love her and she couldn't let herself love him. That moment had been the very painful start to a very painful year.

Booth remembered that look of pain and wondered how it was that she had finally surrendered to love, to him. Now when she looked at him, her face was full of trust and affection. He shifted his attention to her stomach, rounded out nicely now. In a few weeks, their child would be in her arms, not in her belly. He smiled at that thought. Seeing the obviousness of her pregnancy made him think back to the night she had gotten pregnant.

It was the night that Vincent Nigel-Murray had been killed by Broadsky. There was no way in hell that Booth was going to let her sleep alone at her apartment, so he had demanded that she stay with him. Surprisingly, she didn't put up a fight. Booth had expected her to argue and had braced himself for the inevitable onslaught of logic she loved to berate him with. When it didn't come, he took that as a sign of her fear and vowed to himself to keep her close to him that night. When he was laying in his bed that night, he thought about her lying prone on the couch in the room next to him. He was surprised at how much he loved that she was in his apartment, sharing his space. He wanted to go to her and hug her to him. He wanted to ease her pain and alleviate her fear. He wanted to protect from everything he could. He realized had fallen back in love with her, though if he was being honest with himself, he never stopped. He had loved Hannah; there was no way he had considered marrying her without actually loving her, but he realized that in the back of his heart, he had still loved Brennan. It was always her. It was always gonna be her. His Bones. He sighed and let himself drift off to sleep.

He was startled awake by the sound of the door opening and reflexively reached for his gun, pointing it at the intruder. He quickly stowed the gun once he realized it was Bones. He realized she was crying. "Bones, are you alright?" She was shaken. He had seen her remain a statue in the face of the most gruesome and heartbreaking murders, but never had one hit so close to home before. She told him everything she was feeling and about how she felt it was her fault. He had reassured her that it wasn't her fault. And it wasn't. It was his, if he was being honest. But he didn't have time to dwell on that. Bones was in his arms and she needed him. He lay with her in his bed and let her sob into his chest. He held her tightly and let her cry. He knew she needed the comfort. He knew that he was the only one she trusted to give it to her. So he held her and let her cry every tear that she had. And when her sobs tapered off and she was just sniffling every so often, he held her tighter. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, trying to get her to sleep. Lord knew that she needed it. She was absolutely exhausted, and the whole deal with Broadsky was not even close to being over. She stiffened momentarily and Booth feared he had crossed a line. But then she relaxed and nuzzled closer into him. He felt her lips graze his neck and he froze.

"Bones…"

"No Booth. Please" She kissed his neck again and pulled back to look at him.

"You're upset, Bones—"

"Yes, I am upset. One of my interns was killed today. He was killed with a bullet that was meant for you. He wasn't ready to die" her voice hitched and he hugged her a little tighter "there was so much he never got to do, never got to say. I don't want that to be me. I don't want to die without saying everything I need to say and without doing everything I need to do. I need this, Booth. I need you. So please, Seeley. Please." She looked at him with such openness. He had never seen her like this. Her voice was pleading with him, begging him to love and comfort her.

He opened his mouth to protest but Brennan took charge—just as she always did—and kissed him. Instead of fighting it, Booth embraced it. He kissed her back with abandon. This was what he had always wanted, and he knew it was right. He knew that Bones belonged with him. He was the only one who knew her well enough to love her the way she needed to be loved. He knew that she needed that love right now.

So he kissed her. And he loved her. And when she pulled his shirt over his head, he only pulled back momentarily to make eye contact with her. He wanted to be sure that she was sure. She gave him a small smile and a nod. She was ready. She wanted this, wanted him. He kissed her with new fervor, surrendering himself to the inevitable. He undressed her with care, and loved her with care.

After they had both come down from their highs, they lay together, wrapped around each other. Booth couldn't keep the smile off his face. Finally, he had gotten to make love to the woman he had loved for so long. And she had made love to him. It wasn't just sex. Cold, clinical, "it's just sex" Dr. Brennan had made love to him. He smiled. She loved him. He looked at her beautiful face, eyes drooping with sleep, and was filled with joy. She loved him. And even though nothing was right with the world, everything was going to be okay. He let himself slip into sleep beside her, feeling the warmth of her soft body.

Booth thought about that night as he watched her. She was gorgeous. He thought about all the terrible things they had been through together and how it had all led up to this moment. Here they were, together, in their own kitchen in their own house. They were in love, expecting a child, and they were happy. He couldn't imagine anything better. All the pain that they had experienced had just made this moment possible, had made it better.

At that moment, after thinking back on everything, he couldn't stand not touching her anymore. He moved away from where he had been leaning against the counter and went over to where she was, at the stove. He wrapped his arms around her pregnant belly and kissed her on the cheek.

She laughed in surprise. "Hello, Booth. Is everything alright?"

He looked at her, the beautiful mother of his child, the woman he loved, his partner. He looked at the accumulation of everything in his life, and he smiled.

"Everything is perfect."


End file.
